Downhill Both Ways?

Holy crap!!! What happened?

I think someone gave me a leg transplant sometime between Tuesday and this morning!

So, I get on the road at about 6:50 a.m. and ride to Starbucks. I order my usual, take a seat outside, sip my coffee, and watch the sun come up.

By the way, the coffee was decaf.

Then, I hop on the bike, get on the road, and head out into the park. A group of roadies pass me (on the right, of course . . . chickens!) and stop at the top of the dam. I ride pass, down the hill into the park.

Then, all of a sudden, I'm flying!

Granted, the downhill gave me plenty of impetus . . . it always does. Usually, though, I slow down within a couple of hundred yards after reaching the bottom. And, the hill ain't that big (this is, after all, Houston).

So I'm riding in both a higher gear and at a higher cadence than usual. I sustain that pace to the turnoff to the equestrian area. Turning into that area, I pick up the MUP through the center of the park, and I pick up the pace again.

I continue that pace through the park. I notice another cyclist trailing me at a distance. That gap doesn't close.

Toward the end of the park trail, I slow my pace for a bit on the road and then on the reservoir trail. The cyclist following me catches and passes me on his road bike.

His cadence is pretty fast, I notice. I spend the next few seconds attempting to match his cadence as he pulls away. Finally, I do.

And then, he isn't pulling away anymore.

And then, I'm pulling closer. Me. On my CrossTrail with the 45mm tires.

I'm almost close enough to draft when we come to a fork in the trail. He goes left, and I go right. The hammering continues up a gentle incline toward the end of the trail. Once I cross the highway, it starts up again.

And then, I'm home . . . half an hour sooner than I expected!

Now, I need to figure out just exactly what it was that I learned today . . .